1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to diving in which a variety of body sizes and shapes challenge gear manufactures to comfortably and safely provide weight belts, buoyancy compensators, and garments for. The same is true for a wide range of outdoor enthusiast and workers needing to securely carry a variety of items. The present invention also relates to a belt for underwater diving and more particularly to a belt having weights attached for use by underwater divers. The weights are used by divers to overcome the buoyancy force of water.
2. Description of the Related Art
Belts for underwater diving have been known and used for many years. These belts have been effective in overcoming the buoyancy associated with diving. This buoyancy force makes it difficult for divers to ascend. However, there are situations experienced while diving when the diver needs to access the surface of the water quickly. In which case, the diver needs to rid him or her self of the extra weight associated with the weight belt. This has been done in the past by dropping the entire weight belt. Thus the diver would lose the belt and any equipment attached to it that was not removed before releasing the belt.
Since the belt is only dropped in an emergency, speed of weight removal is essential. Therefore, dive belts containing individual pockets of weight also have to be removed entirely as time may be of the essence, thus not allowing for the individual pockets to be emptied.
Accordingly, prior dive belts have to be removed entirely in the event of an emergency. These belts often are utilized to carry other equipment, thus in the event of an emergency, both the belt and the equipment are discarded, resulting in not only a loss of the dive belt but also the attached equipment. Hence, if emergency situations occur often and require the weight belt and attached equipment to be lost, the enjoyment and participation in the sport of scuba diving may be prohibited to certain divers due to cost considerations.
Furthermore, because the belt may have to be dropped, it could not be used to attach a supplemental air supply system. In that case, the supplemental air supply system must be mounted on the diver separately from the belt causing additional encumbrances during normal dive conditions.
Of particular interest in pointing out some of the prior art limitations with previous dive belts are the following U.S. patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,935, issued to B. Chanbonnet, is for a belt structure, particularly for accessories thereto. The Chanbonnet reference discloses a belt structure for carrying dive equipment which comprises a closure strap having at least one free portion on the surface of which are secured at least two first securement elements in the form of loops. The second securement is carried by a wing of a substantially rigid dorsal carrying element, so as to modify the effective length of the free portion according to different sizes of the user. The belt structure disclosed is provided to overcome the problems associated with different size users of a belt. Thus, this invention allows divers of various sizes to use the same belt. However, for divers to free themselves of the weight of this belt, it is necessary to remove the entire belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,305, issued to W. L. Courtney, is a weight belt for underwater diving. The Courtney reference discloses a weight belt for underwater diving wherein the belt is provided with elongated panels for interconnecting pockets for receiving and containing dive weights. The panels being interconnected by one or more belt portions and adjustable buckles or the like for positioning the panels about the diver's waist are permitting them to be adjustably positioned in centered relation on the diver's hips. The panels are preferably formed with multiple pockets facilitating arrangement about the diver's hips. The lower edge of each panel also has a configuration for conforming with the diver's hips. This invention provides a weight belt which is adaptable for divers of different sizes and configured to greatly enhance a diver's comfort. Furthermore, D-rings can also be provided with the weight belt for attaching accessories such as flashlights, cameras, etc. to the weight belt. However, for a diver to get rid of the weight, the entire belt needs have to be removed. Therefore, any accessories attached to the said D-rings are also dropped with the belt.
Other references, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,525, issued to H. L. Perla, U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,299, issued to D. B. Duncan and U.S. Pat. No. 3,374,636, issued to D. F. Mason all pertain to diver's weight belts. These references like the ones mentioned above all suffer from the same limitation, which is that they must be removed entirely in order to get rid of the weights.
The divers buoyancy compensator is the foundation for a “set” of scuba gear. The need to match body shapes and sizes has historically been meet with the solution of engineering and constructing a wide range of sizes. This dramatically increases cost and inconveniences throughout the industry and the end user arena. Manufacturers, distributors, retailers, training agencies, rental operations, and consumers have needed to custom match the body size to the device frame. A loose fitting buoyancy compensator or backpack reduces performance and user control. A tight fitting device is now considered a safety hazard due to possible respiratory and abdominal function restrictions. A typical size range of extra small, small, medium, large and extra large with the occasional need for xxs, ml and xxl exist today. The financial and administrative complexity of this dilemma is significant at the business level. At the consumer level the problem manifest in higher cost and lower use rates. For instance, a team or department of municipal divers/climbers would need a specific size for each body type. If the team “on-duty” consisted of three to cover the task at hand per shift with a total of thirty alternating staff members, it is likely that at least three devices of each size would be required to provide safe and effective equipment for all members. The same scenario can be witnessed in groups of friends and families wishing to share or pass along equipment.
Thus what is needed in the art is a dive belt having removable weight members, which can be discarded without removing the entire dive belt. What is also needed is a buoyancy compensator, utility backpack, transport harness, inflatable personal flotation device (“PFD”) or other garment in which one size easily adjusts to fit a wide range of users.
It is therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings that the present invention is directed.